Thursday September 22, 2016

Today was sunny and bright, yet only 13 C. We were up early since we expected the painter between 8:30 and 9:00 today. He arrived at 8:40 and we were finished eating breakfast and had cleaned up the kitchen. He worked for 3 hours in the morning before stopping for lunch. He covered everything in the kitchen and shower room with large sheets of plastic.

There was no way for us to get to anything in the refrigerator or kitchen cabinets so Sandy bought a ham sandwich (jambon beurre) from La Fournee Malouine boulangerie for us to share at lunch. We had already made plans to meet friends for dinner, so that was fine too. Phil worked on homework while the painter was here in the morning. Sandy took the bus to the Rocabey stop and tried to refill a prescription at the Rocabey pharmacy. Even though they carried the medication in July, it was now unavailable according to the pharmacist all over France. She also walked around the Rocabey marché but didn’t buy any meat since she couldn’t get into the refrigerator to keep it cold. Maybe tomorrow.

After lunch we had our hair cut and scheduled another appointment in three weeks. That will be right before we return to the U.S and “Great Clips” for a hairdresser.

For dinner we walked along the sea front/breaker walls to L’Olivier pizzeria. It was a medium-sized restaurant because it had 19-20 tables for two persons. We were seated in front with the windows open to the sea. The margherita pizza was delicious!! The crust was very thin, with tomatoes and a little pesto sauce drizzled on top. Phil ordered lasagna boulangaise which came with a small green salad. We shared both and loved our dinner. Phil had tiramisu and Sandy had one boule of ice cream (glace) caramel for dessert. After almost two hours of eating and talking with friends, we walked home. It was a lovely evening.

A gull came to visit at the bedroom window.

Fort National at low tide

Sun setting behind Grand Be and Fort National

Sun setting behind Grand Be.

Friday September 23, 2016

Friday September 23, 2016. We’re up early so we can have breakfast before the painter arrives at 9:00. We walked to La Fournee Malouine to have the “formula petit déjeuner”. Since all of our kitchen cabinets and appliances were stilled completely covered in sheets of plastic we weren’t able to prepare breakfast at home. Not a problem here where we frequent a delicious boulangerie and tea room. We enjoyed a grande cafe creme, orange juice, a demi-baguette, and croissant with butter and with groseille (red currents) or apricot jam. We were back home by the time the painter rang the door buzzer at 9:00, right on time. He finished the two rooms, cleaned up, and left by 12:30. We will need to keep his name on file as he was extremely neat, very quiet and calm, and did a great job.

After lunch we vacuumed, dusted, and washed the windows before Phil re-hung the curtains and moved the furniture back into it’s usual location. Since the painter did most of the clean up all we really needed to do was dust or pick up powdery bits of left over plaster. Not bad at all. Late in the afternoon Phil found out that a large yacht was moored in our basin. We walked out to see “A” a mega-yacht, one of the largest and most expensive yachts in the world. There was a helicopter hovering around it and we thought it was probably a news reporter taking photos. It is owned by a Russian billionaire and when searching online costs 300 million euros and has a staff of 37 people. It has 8 floors including an underwater observation room. It did not come into the ecluse/lock but stayed out in the harbor. It certainly has an interesting shape.

Really expensive yacht “A” (300 million Euros) in the harbor.

Saturday September 24, 2016

Saturday September 24, 2016 we took the bus to the Mediatheque to return Sandy’s library books then caught another bus to Parame Mairee. Sandy wanted to make chili and split pea soup to eat before we leave so we needed to purchase some meat. When we returned she made the chili and after lunch we took a bus to the Gare. Today began the 2 day Saint-Michel braderie and it is a very large event. Several blocks down each side of the street plus two rows in the middle are filled with items for sale. We didn’t buy anything but we did see our friend Jean-Louis J. who wished us a good winter and he looks forward to seeing us in the spring. We wished him the same. Delicious creme/chou, from Simon patisserie, for dessert filled with pistachio for Phil and framboise for Sandy.

While Sandy was in Simon patisserie I took this picture of the building across the street.

While Sandy was in Simon patisserie I took this picture looking south down the street.

While Sandy was in Simon patisserie I took this picture looking north up the street.

Sunday September 25, 2016

Sunday September 25, 2016 is sunny and 13 C. Sandy walked to Simon boulangerie for our breakfast. Just as she was about to cross the street to enter the shop, the boulangerer stepped out of the door, locked it, and walked towards the tabac for a smoke break. The time was 9:10. This is the second time this has happened so she needs to adjust her breakfast shopping time. She walked back up to La Fournee Malouine and purchased a croissant and pain au chocolat for our breakfast. While she was in line, Anne and Elizabeth daughters of the Quic-n-Groigne hotel proprietres walked into the boulangerie and asked for their poulet/chicken. It was being held for them in the cooler where the boulangerese sells sandwiches. Interesting things going on here.

After breakfast we walked across from the casino to look out at the sea.

Fort National at low tide.

A lot of sails on the water.

Waves going in on the Sillon beach.

On our way back, we walked past the basin where a German ship M1068, Datteln, has been moored for a couple of days. The DatteIn is a minehunter ship. We ended up by Port de Dinan and spent some time sitting on a bench and looking at the harbor. There’s not a lot going on today, very quiet but beautiful and sunny.

German minehunter ship DatteIn in the basin.

German minehunter ship DatteIn in the basin.

Monday September 26, 2016

Monday September 26, 2016 Today was the day when Simon boulangerie decided to close on Monday. They had been telling Sandy for a few weeks that they would close on Monday, but they never decided on a specific date. Today was it! So, she walked a little extra and shopped at La Fournee Malouine. After breakfast we took the #8 bus to the Courtoisville stop to shop at the Carrefour Market. It is larger than the Carrefour City we have Intra-Muros, but not as large as the Intermarche. However, they carry all of the Carrefour products that we like. We purchased about 6 items and were back home within an hour. The bus ride home took 4 minutes. Sandy made split pea soup with ham from the butcher, panne cotta, and did some laundry.

Carrefour Market in the Courtoisville section of Saint-Malo.

Condor ferry starting its turn before backing up toward the dock.

Corsaire ferry tied up by the ramp, waiting for the next crossing to Dinard.

Tuesday September 27, 2016

Tuesday September 27, 2016 and Sandy shopped at Simon boulangerie for our breakfast. The baguette and the croissant were hot from the oven. Delicious! She shopped at the Intra-Muros marché for fruits and vegetables and Monsieur Alix confirmed that after Friday, he will be on vacation for the next two weeks. Too bad for us!! It was drizzling as Sandy walked back from the marché so we took our umbrellas with us to catch the bus to Christine’s house. Good thing we did, because we would have been wet. We had a lengthy conversation with Christine and checked our homework. Sandy told her about the visit to the mayor’s office and how impressive it was. Christine hadn’t been there and wanted to be sure she remembered to visit next year when it was again open. Christine had organized a large picnic on the beach last Sunday and the menu was galettes. She had a lot left and gave us four to take home. We had them for dinner with sausage inside. While Sandy was preparing dinner, she looked out our window towards the Place de Marché du Legumes and saw a large group of Asian people with microphones, placards, movie cameras etc. There were close to 30 people. It appeared to be a “movie making group”.

South Korean film crew shooting a scene for their television program.

A stunning flower we saw in Parame.

Wednesday September 28, 2016

Wednesday September 28, 2016 was forecast to reach a high temperature of 23 C. We needed to buy milk, yogurt, and butter within the next 2 days. We decided to shop at E.Leclerc since it is next to the hardware store Bricorama. Phil needed 3 or 4 items from the hardware store to repair the curtain rod in our bedroom and we needed a door stop. While waiting for the bus, we saw the same Asian group filming besides the carousel near the moat and castle that Sandy spotted the night before. They were definitely filming. We took the bus and commented how there are always a few additional passengers besides us on any bus we take. There are many people here that do not own cars. However, after shopping and boarding the bus to go home at 11:55, we remembered that Wednesday is always a half day of school for students here. It took 35 minutes to reach the Intra-Muros from Leclerc, when it usually takes 15 – 20 minutes. We stopped at many stops along the route and 10-15 students entered the bus each time we stopped near a school. When we reached the gare/train/bus station, it was mobbed!! There were students waiting at all the bus stops. As we pulled away, we counted more than a dozen other buses, all either full or nearly full of students, departing for areas outside of the city. Most of the communities here have maternelle (elementary) schools, but few have college (middle) schools or lysee (high) schools.

Corsaire ferry still going back and forth to Dinard.

The pilote (pilot) boat returning after escorting a ship out to sea

Thursday September 29, 2016

Thursday September 29, 2016 Sandy shopped at Simon boulangerie for our breakfast. She asked the boulanger if they were now closed on Monday and his answer was yes. We decided to go to the Rocabey marché for olives and a little meat. Sandy will purchase yellow peppers tomorrow to make stuffed peppers to eat over the weekend. She also bought white mushrooms and cooked them in an omelette with potatoes for lunch. One hundred fifty grams cost one euro and 5 centimes. Very reasonable! After lunch we spent a little time in the Place du Marche aux Legumes feeding bread to the little birds. We purchased the bread earlier in the summer, used it to make meatballs, then froze the remainder. Since we turn the refrigerator/freezer off when we’re gone, it needed to be used. The birds were very happy with it!

Feeding the birds

Major utility work on the main street

Sucking up the dirt

Friday September 30, 2016

Friday September 30, 2016 andSandy shopped for the last time from Monsieur Alix’s stand in the Intra-Muros marché. He will be on vacation until we leave for Paris. Sandy thanked him for wonderful fruits and vegetables this year. He wished us a good winter and said he hopes to see us in the spring. Another French shopper was talking to Sandy in English and French. She told Sandy that she spoke in French very well. That was a first! We started with a bus ride to the end of the digue and walked back. Sandy took some of our left over bread and the gulls enjoyed it. It was very clear today and you could see a long way out into the ocean. On the way back we made reservations to have dinner at Diver’s Cite. Good thing, because they start their two week vacation on Sunday. Delicious dinner accomplished!

Saturday April 2, 2016 was a bright sunny day. We walked to the gare / train station which is also the bus station. There we purchased monthly bus passes for April.

Then we took the bus back towards Intra-Muros. We got off the bus at the Duguay-Trouin stop which is not our normal stop. We wanted to buy a box of chocolate so we stopped at a chocolatier near the Duguay-Trouin stop. We were invited to our friend and tutor, Christine and her husband Michel’s house for coffee this afternoon and thought the chocolates would be a nice present.

Our plan was to eat an early lunch so we could take the bus to their house for 2 pm. Sandy bought a cold ham and butter baguette sandwich for us to eat from our bakery.

Paramé mairie

We took the bus to Paramé. Paramé was a separate city, but was amalgamated

with Saint-Malo and Saint-Servan in the 1960s to form the current Saint-Malo. We got off the bus at the center roundabout in Paramé. The bus stop is called Paramé Mairie. Then we walked towards the cathedral and down the street for

chickens

about 10 minutes. We hadn’t been in this part of town before. We passed lovely large detached houses. Some of them had decorative iron fencing around the front. Take a look at the photo to see what we spied in the front yard of one of the houses as we walked by.

Christine and Michel have a lovely large house at the top of a hill. They have lived there for 25 years. They have a large yard and garden to take care of. Christine has a lot of flowers, herbs, and plants. We enjoyed “cafe gourmand” which is espresso coffee served with three different small desserts. She made pane cotta with pineapple, chocolate

maison de michel et christine

Madeline, and vanilla Madeline (Madeleines are traditional, very small sponge cake or French butter cakes). We enjoyed a lovely afternoon with them before they gave us a ride back in their car.

All our pictures for April in Saint-Malo France can be viewed at 2016-04 April in Saint-Malo on Flickr. They will open in a separate window.

All our pictures for March in Saint-Malo France can be viewed at 2016-03 March in Saint-Malo on Flickr. They will open in a separate window.